Download As the civil war came to an end, President Lincoln began to devise a

Brady Meyers
Scott Beaudoin
Kenny Gabel
Eric Mudd
Chase Hellan
Reconstruction Overview
As the civil war came to an end, President Lincoln began to devise a plan
dealing with the reconstruction of the south. After the war, the south was left in a
state that was unprecedented in American history. Towns had been gutted,
plantations burned, fields neglected, and many bridges and railroads were
destroyed. On top of the conditions of the land, many white southerners were
stripped of their slaves, their investments were collapsed, and they had almost
no personal property. Most southerners faced starvation and homelessness.
More than 20% of the adult white male population of the south was killed
in the war. During the years after the war, the south reminisced over the
seemingly heroic figures such as Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. They
fantasized over the “Old South” and the way that life was before the war.
Monuments of these generals were built in the towns; the south treated them
almost as religious figures. As the conditions for white males in the south
dropped drastically, the conditions for blacks declined even more. Overall,
Southern society, both black and white faced an ominous future full of
uncertainty.
African American and white males had very different notions of freedom.
The African Americans believed that slavery should be completely abolished and
that they would acquire new equal rights. African Americans then disagreed on
how to attain this new freedom; some demanded a redistribution of economic
resources and others simply asked for legal equality. On the other hand, white
southerners dreamed of freedom that gave them the ability to control their own
destinies without interference from the Northern government.
The North developed the Freedmen’s Bureau, and agency of the army
that was directed by General Oliver Howard. The bureau distributed food to
recently freed slaves and established schools and attempted to settle freed
blacks on lands of their own.
As the North began to fashion a plan to reconstruct the south a large
division between conservative and radical republicans arose. Lincoln sided with
the conservative wing of his party. He believed that a lenient reconstruction
policy would help southerners to join his political party as they reentered the
union. Lincoln came up with the 10% plan which proposed that when 10% of the
number of voters took the oath in a state, then the loyal voters could set up a
state government. As a result of this, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee joined
the union in 1864. The Racial Republicans were opposed to Lincoln’s lenient
plan so they proposed the Wade-Davis Bill which included the power of Lincoln
to approve a provisional governor for each conquered state and upped the 10%
of population to a majority of the population to take the oath. Lincoln vetoed the
bill. Before Lincoln could permanently pick a plan, he was murdered at Ford
Theater on April 14, 1865. He was shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth. Then
leadership of the conservatives fell to Andrew Johnson.
Johnson then implemented his plan of “Restoration” which was similar to
the Wade-Davis Bill. Meanwhile, there were many questionable practices taking
place in the south. These were known as Black Codes. Basically, Black Codes
were specific laws put in place by the state that allowed white southerners to
have dominance of African American men again. Congress passed an act that
extended the powers of the Freedmen’s Bureau and then in 1866 passed the
Civil Rights Act to try and aid blacks. Next, the Fourteenth Amendment was
passed which dealt with civil rights equality. Also, Congress proceeded to pass
the 15th amendment which officially provided the right to vote for all men.
Radical Republicans soon saw Johnson as an obstacle for their plans.
They then tried to find a way to impeach the president. They found their
opportunity through Johnson’s violation of the Tenure of Office Act as he fired his
Secretary of War Stanton. The trial came to one vote away from a two-thirds
majority and Radical Republicans gave up the impeachment process. Southern
white males that traveled to the north began to be known as “scalawags” and
Northerners who served as southern leaders were known as “carpetbaggers”.
During the first years of reconstruction education in the south was greatly
improved. Already, however, education in the south was segregated between
blacks and whites. The Freedmen’s Bureau attempted to redistribute the land in
the south between whites and blacks but failed. One common way to make a
living and have a place to live for blacks was the process of sharecropping, which
was just another form of slavery in which many blacks accumulated large debts.
After the political drama of Andrew Johnson’s term led the American
people to turn to the war hero Ulysses S. Grant. Grant entered the white house
with no political experience in the past Grant chose several cabinet members that
were ill-equipped for their task. During 1872, Grant started to receive several
political scandals. The first controversy involved a French-owned construction
company, the controversy dealt with members of Grant’s cabinet that took bribes.
Next, in Grant’s second term Grant’s treasurer found that several officials were
taking tax money from the people. As Grant’s presidency deteriorated, the
economy slowly fell. The panic of 1873 was caused by an investment that fell
through on postwar railroad building. Now a new paper currency came about
known as greenbacks. As blacks began to attain similar rights to white males,
white males used intimidation to remain powerful. The Ku Klux Klan was the
largest and most effective of these groups. This group committed hate crimes
and used extreme tactics to intimidate. The government responded with
Enforcement acts to oppose the Klan and eventually declined greatly. The Panic
of 1837 emphasized the economic philosophy known as “Social Darwinism”
which stated that if someone was poor, it was because they were unfit and didn’t
earn their money like others did.
The Compromise of 1877 became known as the “Corrupt Bargain”
because of the bribes taken by both candidates of the presidency. Rutherford
Hayes won the presidential election, but promised Samuel J. Tilden that he
would withdrawal troops from the south. This withdrawal proved that the
government had given up on its attempts to control southern politics and also that
it had given up on the African Americans in the south. Overall, reconstruction
made several important contributions to the slave efforts. As the troops were
taken from the south, the south began to feel free as it governed itself but
truthfully, the “Bourbons”, or “Redeemers” had strict control over the vulnerable
south.
Henry Grady was an important figure in the new south that promoted
industry and progress. He attempted to bring the south up to the industrial
standards of the north. As the main form of industrial success railroad
development increased substantially in the post-Reconstruction years; between
1880 and 1890 the railroad tracks doubled in the south. Despite the significant
industrial growth, the south’s economy still revolved around agriculture. Tenant
farming and sharecropping were popular careers. The new south middle class
included whites and blacks. One chief spokesman of black’s rights was Booker T
Washington, founder and president of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He
emphasized the importance of students’ attendance to school and acquisition of
agricultural skills.
Few white southerners had fully accepted the idea of equality between
races. The entire south was segregated between races. Eventually, the court
validated these so called “Jim Crow” laws through the Plessy vs. Ferguson case.
This case involved a Louisiana law that required separate seating arrangements
for races on railroads. The battle between blacks and whites to agree over equal
rights began to turn violent. This violence showed itself in lynching of blacks.
These shocking events occurred all over the south and although some
southerners opposed the lynching, they weren’t able to control the majority.
1. Abraham Lincoln: Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States and led the Union
through the Civil War. On April 14. 1865 President Lincoln was assassinated by John
Wilkes Booth, and thus he could no carry out his plans for Reconstruction. Historians
have argued for years of how Reconstruction would have went with Lincoln in the lead,
but the United States would have to deal with his successors.
2. Andrew Johnson: Johnson was not the best suited for the job of restoring the South. He
was incompetent and tactless and thus lost a lot of Southern people to that. He did not
like African Americans and was open about it. He did not support any plans that allowed
them to gain any more freedom then they already had. However he did stick the Wade
Davis Plan which governed how the States could come back into the union.
3. Alabama Claims: The Union demands for the British to pay back the damage their built
ships (for the Confederacy) did to Union Ships.
4. Atlanta Compromise: Booker T. Washington outlined a philosophy that became known
as the Atlanta Compromise. He said that “The widest among my race understand that
the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly”.
5. Black Codes: These were laws in Southern states that made it very hard for Blacks to
live. It restricted the voting power and the ability to go to stores. It also allowed
authorities to apprehend blacks if they did not have a job or if they didn’t like them.
6. Booker T. Washington: Founder and president of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and
spoke for the race as whole.
7. Bourbon Rule: Restored all Southern governments back to White Democrats with all the
Union troops leaving. These people became known as redeemers or Bourbons.
8. Carpet baggers: These were people that moved from the north into the south to try and
make a profit. These people were especially hated by the South because they were old
Union soldiers that were now taking over their land. They were also doctors and well
educated people that were just looking for some easy money.
9. Changing Gender Roles: Black women still had to work as servants, but by the end of
the Reconstruction era half of them were working for money.
10. Charles Sumner: Radical Republican, along with Thaddeus Stevens. He wanted the South
to pay for the damage they did, and wanted Lincoln to punish them harshly. He was also
one of the people that was making Congress more powerful than the rest.
11. Civil Service Reform: The government could give jobs on merit of the people. This would
make the government jobs more competitive than they were before, and would help
eliminate corruption.
12. Command of the Army Act: This act made it impossible for the President to command
unless it is through the supreme commander, at the time General Grant. The general
could only be moved by Congresses permission. This although seemly insignificant, that
gave congress more and more power and took away more of the Presidential power.
13. Compromise of 1877: Hayes would withdraw the last Federal troops from the South, the
Southerners then agreed to abandon the filibusters.
14. Conservative Republicans: These Republicans wanted the South to accept abolition.
They did not want the South to be punished harshly so that they could come back into
the Union. They also wanted the South to accept that the slaves were free and that they
could do anything that they wanted.
15. Convict Lease System: System where prisons leased gangs for cheap labor to private
companies. They were exposed to brutal beatings that sometimes became fatal.
16. Credit Mobilier: A French company that used their power to move contracts their way,
and making millions of it. This was a main part of what became known as the Grant
Scandals.
17. Crop Lien System: After the Civil War, the South was a complete mess. They would get
credit before the growing season so that they could get seeds and other materials. This
lasted up until the 1920’s.
18. Enforcement Acts: These acts, known as the Ku Klux Klan acts, were probably the most
extreme of the era. It forbade people from discriminating against race or religion, and
gave the federal government to supersede states.
19. Ex Parte Milligan: This was congresses efforts to stop the Supreme Court from
interfering with their plans. In 1866 this said that military tribunals were
unconstitutional, and that would mess up Congresses plan on having 5 military districts.
The Radicals then made moves to make bills require 2/3 votes for any decision over
ruling congress. They were even talking about abolishing the Supreme Court completely.
20. Fifteenth Amendment: This amendment forbade any state or other government
suffrage to any race. Although small it was supposed to stop all the discrimination to
other races, but that did not happen until the 1950s.
21. Fourteenth Amendment: in April 1866 the Join Committee proposed a new amendment
to the Constitution. This was to define what American citizenship would be. Everyone
born in the United States and anyone naturalized would be full citizens. With this new
amendment the radical republicans grew more confident.
22. Freedmen: Freedmen were freed African Americans that still lived in the south. They
were blacks that ran for political office but had no experience before; therefore they
had to build their own places so that they could exercise their power. African Americans
played a significant the politics in the south for the next decade.
23. Grandfather Clause: This clause allowed people to vote if there grandfather voted.
24. Greenbacks: This was the game given to the paper money during the 1860’s.
25. Hayes Versus Tilden: Tilden was one short of a majority, but Hayes could have 20
disputed votes. Presidential election that was disputed and they had to have a special
electoral commission.
26. Henry Grady: He wrote the Atlanta Constitution that wanted new ways for Southerners,
however rarely challenged white supremacy.
27. Homestead Act: Federal act that allowed the government to give land to almost
anyone, including freed slaves.
28. Ideological Limits: This was the belief among almost all southern whites that Blacks were
inferior. It was ingrained in their brain and they had always thought that they were not
equal, and they were an obstacle to get over.
29. Ida B. Wells: She was a journalist and reporter that covered lynching in depth. Also she
was an active participant for women rights.
30. Impact of Social Darwinism: This was the idea that people failed because they were
weaker than the rest of the people and were unfit. This was seen in the North, but also a
lot in blacks in the South.
31. Indian Ring: Part of Grants Scandals, his secretary of state William Bulknap, took bribes
from investors so that they could buy land on the Indian reservation. He was eventually
impeached for his crimes, but was later aquited.
32. Jefferson Davis: Davis was the leader of the Confederates during the Civil War. he was
captured a month after the war ended and was charged with treason, but never tried.
He soon became part of the effort to make the New South so that they could combat
the African Americans.
33. Jim Crow Laws: A series of laws that said black and white facilities could be separate, but
they would have to be equal. But in reality this lead to inferior facilities of blacks that led
to the 1960s.
34. John Wilkes Booth: Booth was the assassin that most likely changed the course of
history forever. Booth shot Lincoln one in the back of the head and escaped. By killing
Lincoln he stopped a great President from helping the South in Reconstruction, and be
allowing a not so good president start and have trouble with it.
35. Johnsons Vetoes: To combat these congress wanted to extend the Freedmen’s Bureau
and also wanted to pass the Civil Rights Act. The first would nullify the work agreements
and give the African Americans more power. The second would declare blacks citizens of
the United States and gave them freedom of what whites had. Johnson vetoed both, but
congress overruled it.
36. Ku Klux Klan: A white extremist group that started in 1866. They terrorized blacks until
1872, where they started to decline in members and attacks.
37. Liberal Republicans: These were people that didn’t like Grant. They started to split away
from him during his first term, and started calling his policy “Grantism”.
38. Lincolns 10% plan: This plan offered general amnesty to white southerners. But the
higher officials would have to take blame for the war and pay for some of it. The other
people would have to pledge allegiance to the United States and once 10% of the white
men have done that the state could apply for state hood again. Lincoln also extended
suffrage to all the free blacks that live in the South.
39. Literacy Test: Tests that are supposed keep black voters from voting. They are
impossibly hard tests that stopped many people from voting in the South.
40. Lost Cause: Southerners would look back at how the South was before the Civil War and
romanticize about it. They would look at the Confederate Heroes like Stonewall Jackson
and Robert E. Lee, and see religious figures out of them.
41. Lynchings: Blacks were hung in trees by white mobs for being accused of crimes or they
violated their proper standings in the social order. In the 1890’s there were over 197
lynches a year, which is almost 1 every two days.
42. Nation Greenback Party: A small political party that was only in 3 presidential elections.
They were people that wanted in inflation, but they did keep the money issue alive.
43. New system of credit: Instead of a having a central currency states started to make their
own, which ran a lot on credit.
44. Panic of 1873: An leading investing company invested too heavily into post-war
railroads. However that collapsed, and lead to a 4 year long depression that affected the
entire country, North and South.
45. Plessy v. Ferguson: The Supreme Court constitutionally allowed racial segregation.
However they said it was “separate but equal” but that was not the case.
46. Poll Tax: A tax that was required to pay to vote. This would stop most blacks from voting
because they did not have the money to pay for the tax.
47. Radical Republicans: These Republicans wanted the South to fend for its self. They also
wanted the military and government leaders of the South to pay for what they did. They
also wanted the white men of the South to be disenfranchised. These were led by
Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Summer of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts respectively.
48. Radical Reconstruction: This period was when Congress took over the Reconstruction
and made it much harsher. It was run by the Joint Committee on Reconstructions, who
set up a timeline for the entire period.
49. Railroad Development: In the post-war railroads expanded heavily, especially in the
South. They more than doubled in 10 years during the Reconstruction era.
50. Republican Failure in the South: Although many White Southerners agreed with
someone of the Republicans, the hate was too strong to support the party. And when
the Feds left the South it marked the decline of the Reconstruction Era.
51. Salmon P. Chase: Chief Justice during the Reconstruction Era. He wanted to free all the
slaves and thought that the South was trying take over the Federal Government.
52. Samuel J. Tilden: Ran against Hayes in 1876 presidential election. He was one electoral
vote off winning the election. He eventually lost in 7 to 8 in the special electoral
commission.
53. Scalawags: There were people that lived in the south, but were republicans. These
people were hated by the other white Southerners because they believe them to be
traitors to their country.
54. Segregated Schools: In the south the school system was segregated into Black schools
and White schools, although there was some effort to make one school system, it failed.
Even the Federal government mandated that there be a separation. This would happen
in the south until the 1950s and it still happens a little bit today.
55. Sharecropping: Although freed black people did not have any money or any land, so
they could not move to the North, nor could they buy themselves a piece of land to
farm. They would then go into a sharecropping business where they would work of
other people. They would then pay the owners for the crops that they bought at the
beginning of the season. This would begin a cycle in which it is almost impossible to get
out of.
56. Stewards Folly: He accepted a Russian offer of Alaska for 7.2million dollars. He did this
to spite Grant and all of his Reconstruction plans.
57. Special Electoral Commission: Created by Congress to decided who should get the
undecided votes. The commission voted 8 to 7 for Hayes; therefore he got all 20
disputed votes, and won the election.
58. Tenure of Office Act: In 1867 Johnson dismissed Secretary of War Stanton which was a
direct violation of the Tenure of Office Act. However he did this on purpose because he
wanted to see how well the act would hold up in court. But he was impeached for it.
59. Thaddeus Stevens: Stevens was one of the main Radical Republicans. He pushed for
harsh punishment for the South and he was against the 10% plan.
60. Thirteenth Amendment: This abolished slavery in the United States. Although created in
1863, it did not go into effect until 1865 when the Union won the Civil War.
61. The Readjuster Challenge: The redeemers had extremely high tax rates to pay off debts,
and they started to have people that wanted lower tax rate. These people became
known as readjuster’s demanding the state to revise tax plans.
62. The Congressional Plan: Tennessee was the only state readmitted by the 14th
amendment. Instead of having provincial governments Congress organized them into
five military districts with a military commander as the governor. This also provided
more suffrage for blacks who were having trouble.
63. Ulysses S. Grant: Grant was the hero of the Civil War but during Reconstruction he was
elected president. He had no political experience therefore he performed clumsy and
not well at the start. He also had a corrupt cabinet and many other people in his
administration.
64. Wade-Davis Bill: This was the first effort by Congress to resolve the south, and started in
July 1864. It authorized the president to appoint provisional governors for a conquered
state, and the conquered territories would become military states.
65. Whiskey Ring: A scandal in Grants Administration that was exposed in 1875. The
government would siphon of millions of dollars from taxes, and then use it for their own
gain.
66. “40 acres and a mule”: This was a practice to place freed slaved on old Confederate
land, and gives them a little bit to get started. But when Lincoln was assassinated in
1865, Andrew Johnson took away the order.
Essays
Explain why and how the role of the federal government changes a s a
result of the Civil War with respect to two of the following during the period
1861-1877:
Race Relations
Economic Development
Westward Expansion
After the Civil War, the United States was divided and had many domestic
issues. The South was in shambles, and the government started Reconstruction.
While Reconstruction was somewhat of a failure, it had an impact on the
government’s role in terms of race relations and westward expansion.
At the end of the Civil War, Lincoln had an optimistic plan for
Reconstruction, with a lenient readmission of the South and a hope to give
suffrage to educated, land-owning blacks who served in the Union army. The
Radical Republicans quickly vetoed this and made the Wade-Davis Bill. With
Lincoln’s assassination went his plan for Reconstruction. Andrew Johnson’s plan
was much like the Wade-Davis Bill, except for a few things. In terms of slavery,
the Southern states wanting to join the Union had to abolish slavery and ratify the
Thirteenth Amendment. Once the South started enacting laws known as the
black codes to control former slaves Congress made the Freedmen’s Bureau
more powerful and later passed the first Civil Rights Act. Soon after, Congress
also passed the Fourteenth Amendment, which defined American citizenship and
gave the right to vote to any male. Most of the plans that gave way to helping
blacks during Reconstruction came from the Radical Republicans, who made up
the majority of Congress and the House. Their majority helped to shape
Reconstruction the way they wanted, without even the president’s objections.
Congress went so far as to create the Tenure of Office Act, which basically
stopped the president from being able to remove officials without the Senate’s
agreement. The creation of the Fifteenth Amendment further pushed the
government’s aggression towards racism, stating that suffrage couldn’t be denied
because of race. So while the South made many attempts to halt black’s right to
vote and make a decent living, the government used a great amount of federal
power to control the Southern states and help former slaves.
Americans had been pushing west since they began settling the United
States, but during Reconstruction, a vast amount of people began to really move
westward in hopes of new opportunities. Between the prospect of gold and the
new continental railroad, many people, impoverished or not hoped to benefit from
the new frontier. Many Indians made their home out west, like the Plains Indians.
As railroad construction began, the buffalo came close to extinction, along with
the Plains Indians. The government’s solution was the Dawes Act, which pushed
the Indians from their home, and through forced assimilation destroyed their
culture. The government promoted settlement in the west, making land policies
like the Homestead Act which helped settlers buy land of 160 acres for a small
price if they stayed for five years and improved it. While the government didn’t
realize that just giving land cheaply wasn’t enough to start a farm family
effectively, it was an early try at helping westward development. With the poorer
families having little resources to maintain a farm, they looked to the federal
government for help. Congress responded with The Timber Culture Act, which
gave more acres to people if they planted 40 acres of trees on them, and the
Desert Land Act which sold cheap land if the people promised to irrigate it within
3 years. The government also secured many territories during this time, with
territorial governments set up in much of the west by the 1860s and statehood
came soon after.
Although Reconstruction as a whole was considered a failure, the federal
government became very active in trying to solve America’s many problems.
While racism was nowhere close to gone, the government put into place many
laws that would later form the basis for the Civil Rights movement, and while
some of the government’s decisions in pushing people to the west were morally
questionable, they did make it easier for many Easterners to fill in the new
frontier.
In what ways and to what extent did constiutional and social developments
between 1860 and 1877 amount to a revolution?
After the Civil War the United States was in a state of chaos. President
Lincoln was given the task of reconstructing a nation that was split in half. Lincoln
suggested the ten percent plan which would allow states readmission to the
Union if ten percent of their population took a pledge. He was heavily criticized
for being too lenient in this plan. Following Lincoln’s death, President Johnson
was given the task of reconstructing. Ironically, Johnson was picked as Vice
President to Lincoln in order to win over some southern states in the recent
election. Johnson, the Tennessee southern plantation owner, follows a different
plan from Lincoln. Although both social and constitutional developments led to a
revolution, the constitutional developments more heavily influenced the country.
During reconstruction, many constitutional changes were made to the U.S.
Government to prevent another succession. After the civil war, the Government
enabled a list of acts and amendments in order to stop the South from
succeeding again. To start, Abraham Lincoln started the constitutional revolution
through the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in the South
during the Civil War. Although this didn’t directly affect the southerners who
disregarded this, the proclamation forced France to stay out of the battle, and led
to the public abolition of slavery. After the Emancipation Proclamation and the
civil war, the 13th Amendment was passed. The 13th Amendment freed all slaves
and abolished slavery. This was a huge advancement of the United States, and
fixed a major flaw in society. In addition, the 14th and 15th Amendment’s were
passed. The 14th amendment gave full citizenship to all native-born Americans
including slaves and immigrants. The 15th amendment gave suffrage to all
citizens in America, including women, blacks, and immigrants. These
amendments led to the development of the United States through changing the
government.
Although social development was minute, it still played a significant role in
the development of the nation. After the white southerners were stripped of their
land and slaves, hostility was in the air. The rage of the white man developed into
the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan targeted recently freed slaves, and protested
the government. The south also created Black Codes in order to limit the
freedoms of the newly freed slaves. The Black codes required literacy tests to
vote, and other ways to limit the blacks freedoms. On the other hand, the north
created the freedman’s bureau. The Freedman’s bureau was created to give
food, jobs, and shelter to the free slaves, and also to protect them from
persecution. Also, to limit groups like the KKK, the North divided the South into 5
major military divisions. Each division had a governor, and was run by a leader
until they were admitted back into the Union. These social developments
completely changed the United States culture, with the creation of the KKK, the
freedmen’s bureau, and even the division of the south.
Evaluate the impact of political and economic development in two of the
following regions.
-South
-North
-West
Following the Civil War, The North and South had conflicting
governments, and weak, unstable economies. The villages in the south were
pillaged, railroads in the South were derailed, and the government was in utter
chaos. Following a destructive war, the North and South were forced to rebuild
the economy and government from scratch. The North and South greatly affected
the political and economic development of the nation through reconstruction of
the nation.
To start, the North began to rebuild, and help out the South. Lincoln
suggested his ten percent plan which allowed all southern states to return to the
Union with a ten percent oath from the civilians. After Lincoln’s Death, when
Johnson took over, admission to the Union was much easier. This led to the
impeachment of Andrew Johnson, and allowed the Radical Republicans to take
over. After the impeachment, Grant was elected in 1876. Later on, political
machines began to form, such as the Tammany Hall, led by Marcy Tweed.
Economically, the civil war led the North into an industrial boom. The north began
a laissez-faire economy, and began growing due to industries like Steel, Oil, and
Railroads. The railroad companies led to the industrialization of America because
it shipped mass quantities of goods quickly. After the Civil War, the North turned
into an industrial powerhouse while it’s politics were run by Radical Republicans.
In the south, they were forced to deal with pillaged villages and burned
down cities. The destructions were innumerous. As far as politics go, the South
did not have much of a say. They were forced to use other stratedgies to express
their opinion. For example, the Black codes were created to ensure that no
Blacks could vote, and that they still had more rights. The south also created the
Ku Klux Klan which rallied together and spooked recently freed slaves. While
Slavery was now illegal in the south, the plantation owners were forced to find a
new way to have slaves. Many started using the sharecropping philosophy. This
left the workers in a longstanding debt, and basically forced blacks to work for life
until they pay it off. This was the white southerners way of getting the blacks to
continue to be slaves, even after the Emancipation Proclamation. Also, the south
started to grow agriculturally. Tobacco started to become a cashcrop again in
places like Richmond. The use of railroads made the crops much more
successful because it was shipped across the country in a matter of days rather
than weeks or months. This kept all food fresh.
Following the Civil War, the North and South underwent multiple changes
that reformed the political and economic developments in society. The
government, and economy played a major role in the reconstruction of the nation.
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. The “grand-father clause”?:
a) resulted in the election of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876.
b) denied black Americans the franchise in the South.
c) required federal troops to supervise voting in southern regions.
d) determined whether or not an ex-slave was a freedman.
e) blocked newly freed slaves from buying property.
2. The North interpreted Black Codes as?:
a) evidence that the South sought to keep freemen in an economically dependent
and legally inferior status.
b) evidence that the South, by granting limited rights such as allowing jury
service, was slowly accommodating to an improved status for former slaves.
c) a realistic solution by the South to the problems created by sudden
emancipation.
d) dangerous experiment by the South that could lead to social equality for
blacks in the North.
e) an attempt to help assimilate blacks into society
3. In the presidential election of 1868, Ulysses S. Grant?:
a) transformed his personal popularity into a large majority in the popular vote.
b) owed his victory to the votes of former slaves.
c) gained his victory by winning the votes of the majority of whites.
d) won the presidency through support in the South
e) all of these choices are correct
4) The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution was important because
it?:
a) prohibited slavery within the United States.
b) guaranteed equal protection under the law for every American citizen.
c) prohibited any state from denying an American citizen the right to vote based
on race/ethnic background, color, or having previously been a slave.
d) provided Congress with the power to establish and collect income taxes.
e) prohibited any state from denying women the right to vote.
5. During the Reconstruction, what groups was the backbone of the
Republican party in the South, providing eight out of ten Republican
votes?:
a) scalawags.
b) freedmen.
c) carpetbaggers.
d) Redeemers.
e) Ku Klux Klaners.
6. The purpose of the Freedmen’s Bureau was to?:
a) gain the vote for the freed slave.
b) provide 40 acres and a mule for each slave
c) get Radical Republicans in positions of power in the South.
d) feed, adjust, and educate the former slaves, thus aiding their adjustment to
freedom.
e) work against the Black Codes.
7. By the end of his presidency, Ulysses S. Grant’s popularity had declined
substantially because of?:
a) the corruption evident in his administration.
b) his harsh and brutal policies towards the South.
c) his support for “greenback” monetary policies.
d) revelations about his poor military leadership during the Civil War.
e) his refusals to support the Radicals in Congress.
8. This Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery:
a) Twelfth.
b) Thirteenth.
c) Fourteenth
d) Fifteenth
e) Sixteenth
9. A derogatory term applied to Northerners who settled in the South after
the Civil War:
a) Redemptioner.
b) Radicals.
c) scalawags.
d) carpetbaggers.
e) Freedmen’s Bureau.
10) In 1867, Secretary of State Seward accomplished an enduring success
in foreign relations for the Johnson administration when he?:
a) commissioned the building of an all-new ironclad navy.
b) recognized the independent republic of Hawaii.
c) purchased Alaska from Russia.
d) called for American aid to republican rebels in Cuba.
e) all of theses choices are correct.
11. Americans in the post-Civil War decades who waved the bloody shirt
were?:
a) Republicans denouncing corruption in office.
b) Southern Democrats reviving the sectional spirit of the Confederacy.
c) Union Army veterans claiming their pensions.
d) labor supporters protesting the Haymarket riot.
e) Republicans reviving the memory of southern Democratic disloyalty during the
Civil War.
12. Which of the following was NOT a feature of Abraham Lincoln’s “10
Percent Plan”?:
a) state governments could be formed when at least 10% of those who had voted
in 1860 had sworn allegiance to the Union and had accepted emancipation.
b) Confederate officials and army and naval officers needed presidential pardons
before they could participate in the new governments.
c) southern plantations were to be confiscated and divided among the blacks
who had formerly worked there as slaves. correct
d) freedmen were excluded from participation because they had not been voters
in 1860.
e) the Confederate soldiers would be put on trial for war crimes.
13. Under new President Andrew Johnson, presidential Reconstruction?:
a) made it possible for former high-ranking Confederates to assume positions of
power in the reconstructed southern governments. correct
b) would implement a harsher program o the South than Lincoln had called for.
c) adhered substantially to the views of Congressional leaders.
d) never was implemented because Congress passed its own program before
Johnsoon’s could go into effect.
e) severely limited the amount of power Confederate leaders could have in
government.
14. Andrew Johnson narrowly avoided conviction on impeachment charges
because?:
a) of his earlier cooperative attitude toward Congress.
b) Radical Republicans were beginning to support his policies.
c) some Republicans feared that removal would set a bad precedent for using
impeachment as a political weapon. correct
d) only a minority of the Senate voted to convict.
e) there was a majority of Democrats in the Senate.
15. The status of working a piece of land in return for a portion of the crops
was?:
a) sharecropping. Correct
b) Black Codes
c) laissez-faire
d) Force Acts
e) Freedmen’s Bureau
16. The refusal of the South to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment?:
a) caused most northerners to support the Radicals’ demand that more economic
opportunity be extended to freedmen.
b) caused a thorough restructuring of southern society.
c) led to general land reform in the South.
d) forced the Republicans to abolish the existing southern governments, form
new governments, and extend the vote to freedmen. correct
e) made Congress change certain aspects of the Wade-Davis Bill.
Answer Guide
1.B- The “grand-father clause” was a tactic by the South to control the recently
freed slaves. It stated that people who’s grandparents didn’t vote couldn’t.
2. A- The North were angry with the South for their obvious attempt to bypass the
recently set laws and saw the black codes as a backlash in the South.
3. B- Since Ulysses S. Grant was the general for the Union army and supported
rights for blacks, the former slaves voted for him.
4. B- The Fourteenth Amendment helped to point out all males, black or white,
were citizens of the United States and were thus protected.
5. B- Freedmen were former slaves and were the backbone for Radical
Republicans because they promoted amendments and plans to help blacks.
6. D- The Freedmen’s Bureau helped get former slaves on their feet and when
the South countered with black codes and such Congress extended the Bureau
and made it more powerful.
7. A- While Grant himself wasn’t corrupt, many of the people he surrounded
himself with were and with many scandals occurring throughout his presidency
he became less popular.
8. B- The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the U.S.
9. D- Carpetbaggers were Northerners who moved down South to flourish, being
named carpetbaggers because they carried everything in a large bag.
10. C- Seward purchased Alaska from Russia, and while at first it was seen as a
pointless buy, they later found it was full of oil.
11. E- Republicans who wanted to remember the disloyalty of the Democrats
during the Civil War known for “waving the bloody shirt.”
12. C- Many expanded rights weren’t given to slaves in Lincoln’s “10% Plan” and
the slaves did not get their old owner’s land.
13. A- President Johnson used his power to send old Confederate leaders to the
White House and apologize so that they could get back into politics.
14. C- While Congress badly wanted to impeach Johnson so they could form
Reconstruction there own way, they feared that impeachment would become a
too frequent political tool.
15. A- Sharecropping was a tool used by Southerners to keep the former slaves
in debt and to keep them doing degrading work like before.
16. D- Since some Southern states would not ratify the Fourteenth Amendment,
the Radical Republicans put Northern leaders in charge of states to get things
moving.